In a video universe becoming increasingly mobile and multi-platformed, sharing is the dominant transportation mode for content. Search still matters, and is not going away anytime soon, but that reference from a friend, a colleague, even the slightest of digital connections, can send us down roads we might have never discovered otherwise. For video content creators, whether marketing or informing or entertaining, generating shares is like finding the keys to the engine.

According to a recent non-scientific video sharing survey of 466 respondents conducted by Philo Media, a branded video agency, what makes someone share often transcends gender and age, though they matter, and seeing people who connect on a personal level.

“People are no longer influenced by just celebrities — whose status seems unobtainable to most,” says Kevin Allodi, CEO of Philo Media, “but by individuals that are more authentic and personally relatable.”

Back to keeping it real. In different parts of the video sharing survey, with 61.69 percent female respondents, authenticity crossed the gender line. ”Real People” made videos feel more relatable for the largest number of male respondents, for example. In that question, the highest response for women was “Storyline.” Later in the survey, when asked specifically about connecting to personas, women’s top response was “down-to-earth” characters. (Men reported connecting best with animal characters. Hmmm.)

How authenticity actually translated into shares did find a slight gender gap. Women were slightly more likely (13 percent more than women) to share videos with humorous content, but more than half of all respondents (55 percent) reported humor as the most important characteristic for sharing. Men were slightly more likely (11.42 percent more than women) to share videos that made them feel empowered.

Boomers were less likely to seek video that featured a current event and more likely to watch video with the sound on.

Gen Xers were more likely than other generations to watch video on Twitter and share video that made them angry.

Millennials reported more influence from celebrities, far greater mobile video use and more viewing on YouTube than Facebook.

The Millennials’ preference for YouTube and mobile are important indicators that will continue to shift the ground. But right now, 63 percent of all respondents reported Facebook as its most-used video sharing platform. So creators who need to spread messages across broad social networks might consider this formula: Make it real, make it funny, and make sure it’s on Facebook.

This article was written by Michael Humphrey from Forbes and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.